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About

The Kingdom of Morocco’s first sovereign decision taken shortly after its independence,was to join the Organization of the United Nations. It did so on November 12th 1956(Photo: King Mohammed V adressing the General Assembly in 1957).

It has ever since maintained a firm and irreversible commitment toward contributing to the goals and principles of the organization, which converge with the fundamentals of its foreign policy and its international action.

Morocco has actively contributed to peace and security throughout the world, the development of international law and the promotion and respect of human rights. Morocco also participates with great dedication to the UN’s efforts aimed at reinforcing international cooperation and South-South solidarity.

Stemming from its traditional commitment to the strengthening of multilateralism, Morocco supports the reform process of the UN as well as the enhancement of the Organization’s role and work and the revitalization of its organs so that it can adapt to new geostrategic realities and global challenges of the 21stcentury.

Morocco’s third mandate in the Security Council reflects its unwavering commitment to multilateralism as a fundamental framework for the preservation of peace and security. This is an opportunity for Morocco to reaffirm its commitment to the irreversible culmination of efforts by the United Nations, to address the growing challenges and adapt to major mutations, to which they are confronted.

Morocco : an actor in the promotion of international peace and security

Sharing common values, the relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the United Nations have always been close partners in the field of peace and security. Given its strategic geographic positioning and its active role within euro-mediterranean and arab-african spaces, Morocco is one of the few African countries that has participated since the 1960’s in Peace Keeping Operations on four different continents (Asia-Africa, America and Europe).

Morocco has always been committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes. In this regard, Morocco has relentlessly used mediation and preventive diplomacy to ease tensions, promote reconciliation between the different actors and to promote the emergence of peaceful solutions to various disputes or conflicts.

Morocco stands in the top 20 on the list of countries contributing troops to peacekeeping and is ranked third arab contributor and eighth African contributor with around 1600 troops working under MONUSCO and UNOCI.

Morocco also been very active in peacebuilding activities at the multilateral, sub-regional and transregional levels, as well as, at the bilateral level, namely through the Moroccan Agency for International cooperation.

The participation of Morocco in peacekeeping is in compliance with the principles of the United Nations, including respect for the territorial integrity of States, sovereign equality of States and the consent of the parties concerned.

Morocco’s participation in different UN bodies

- General Assembly:

P residency of the 6th Committee during the 60th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (2004).

Presidency of the 3rd Committee during the 11th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (1966).

Presidency of the G77 and China (2003)

President of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and to the strengthening of the Role of the Organization (2008).

Vice Presidency of the General Assembly (2011) .

Vice Presidency of the 6th Committee the 67th Session of the General Assembly (2012).

Vice Presidency of Executive Noard of UNDP/UNFPA and UNOPS (2012).

Vice Presidency of the 1st Committee of the 60th Session of the General Assembly (2005).

Vice Presidency of the 2nd Committee during the 45th and 57th Session of the General Assembly (1990 and 2002).

Vice Presidency of the 6th Committee the 50th Session of the General Assembly (1995).

Vice Presidency of the ad hoc committee on jurisdictional immunities of States and their property (February 2001-February 2004).

Member of affiliated committees to ECOSOC (Commission for Social Development, Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Commission on Population and Development, Commission on Science and Technology for Development, Commission for Sustainable Development, Commission on the Status of Women, Statistical Commission).

Member of the board of different funds, programmes and bodies of the UN (UNICEF, UNDP, UNCTAD, UNEP, UN-Habitat, UNITAR).

- Human Rights Council: Founding Member and Vice President (2006-2007).

- Human Rights Commission: 1967-1972, 1979-1981,1989-1991,1998-2000.

- Committee on Human Rights: 2009-2012.

- Peacebuilding Commission: 2009-2010.

Important International and Regional Summits or Conferences organized in Morocco

Morocco’s longstanding history as a promoter of peace, dialogue and tolerance has made it an engaged and active actor and partner on the international scene. Over the years, Morocco has been organized or initiated a number of important and historical international or regional summits or conferences aimed at promoting peace, security and development namely in the the african and arab-islamic world to which it belongs.

To this end, Morocco has initiated or hosted a series of important high level meeting or sub-regional of regional groups to which it belongs such the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), the Arab League (LAS), the then known Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CENSAD) as well as their sub-committees. Morocco has also held a series of landmark events that have left an imprint on our modern history: The first war conference between the Allied Powers, known as the "Anfa Conference", was held in Casablanca, Morocco from January 14 to January 24, 1943, and took steps toward planning the allied strategy and the end of the war.

The Conference of the “Group of Casablanca” took place in Casablanca, in January 1961, and called for greater African solidarity in the fight against colonialism and self-determination and it also called for enhanced support to resistance movements throughout the continent. The Group of Casablanca later on merged with the Group of Monrovia, in 1963, to form the Organization of African Unity (OAU) that later on became the African Union.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference, was established during the Rabat Conference, of September 25th 1969, which brought together leaders of the Muslim world looking to preserve Islamic social and economic values, promote solidarity amongst member states and increase cooperation in social, economic, cultural, scientific, and political areas.

The treaty establishing the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) was signed by the heads of State of the 5 Maghreb Countries (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia) in Marrakesh, on February 17 1989. The AMU aims for economic and political unity in North Africa. Its Secretariat is based in Rabat, Morocco.

The Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO), commonly known as the "Marrakesh Agreement", was signed in Marrakesh, Morocco, on April 15, 1994, during the GATT conference.

The first Middle East and North Africa Economical Summit (MENA Summit), was held in Casablanca from 30 October to 1 November 1994. Under the presidency of King Hassan II,and the co-presidency of the US and Russian Presidents the “Casablanca Declaration” underlined the importance of solid economic growth and palpable improvement of the life and security of peoples in the region reinforcing the achievements made in the peace negotiations (Oslo Peace Process). It was decided during this conference on the creation of a Middle East and North Africa Development Bank and a Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Following Morocco’s intense diplomatic mediation which successfully brought together, under the auspices of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, the Presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone met in Rabat, on 27th February 2002, in what became known as the Mano River Summit, to sign an agreement to promote peace in the region, put an end to outside interference in national affairs, enhance joint border monitoring and cooperate in the repatriation of refugees. This Summit contributed to putting an end to the conflict in the region.

The First Euro-African Conference on Migration and Development, took place in Rabat, on 10 and 11th July 2006, established what is known as the “Rabat Process” aimed at creating a framework of dialogue and consultation to understand the migratory phenomenon and provide a new comprehensive focus to its management

On August 4 2009, Foreign Ministers of African Atlantic States, from the straits of Gibraltar to the Cape, met in Rabat to discuss the growing challenges emanating from the Atlantic Ocean (drug trafficking, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, coastal erosion, port security etc…). The “Rabat Declaration” adopted on the 5th of August, known as the “Rabat I” Declaration established a new platform of cooperation and coordination between its member states known as the Conference of African Atlantic States. It was further complemented and enriched the following year when the “Rabat II” Declaration launched a new African Atlantic partnership after the adoption of its Action Plan for the conference based on the following three pillars: Dialogue and security, Sea Economy and Connectivity, energy and environment.